Later reception, yes or no?

Hi, and welcome!

Is there a park or other outdoor area nearby, where perhaps you could have a reception of some kind?

A reception is really a "thank you" to guests for attending a ceremony, so to have a ceremony and no reception would be really awkward.

I’ve known several people who had a destination wedding and then had a reception back home after the fact. It was great because those of us who couldn’t afford to go to the weddings (Vegas, VA Beach, etc) could still be a part of their memories of that moment.
It is always fun to get together and celebrate someone’s huge life moments. And as a guest, I greatly appreciated being included in the reception when I couldn’t attend the ceremony.

It's very common for chapels and churches to not have banquet facilities. Find something local to the chapel like a community hall or park. The reception needs to be held the same day, even if you have to drive to another location, again very common. You need to provide something for your guests.


Everyone invited to the ceremony must also be invited to reception and vice versa.

Is there a nice restaurant nearby? I feel like to make guests drive three hours (6 round trip), you need to provide a full meal.

Is it your desire to have the ceremony and reception on two separate dates? Or are are you only considering that because you’re dead set on using that specific chapel which is 3 hours away? Where would you have the cake being served? Is there any outside area next to the chapel where you could set up a few tables, since you’re only having 40 guests. That would only require about 4 or 5 tables and not take up much space.


To me it’s a lot to ask for any guest to drive 3 hours and only attend a ceremony and turn around and drive three hours back home. Then you would ask all those guests show up again for reception a later date. Seems like doing a simple reception on the chapel grounds (Or any nearby park, etc.) is a better option.

I think it is lot to expect your guests to drive 6 hours to just attend a ceremony as most ceremonies are 30 minutes or less. I would either find a place to have a reception or reconsider where you have the ceremony.

View Quoted Comment I’ll look at possible options. Thanks for your input 😊

I’m not trying to be gift grabby. Just wanting to include everyone. I really do appreciate your help. I’m looking into parks and places. I’ll change venues if I can’t find anything.

If at all possible could you at all host something outdoors of the ceremony site? like even a small social hour or cake and punch?

Normally you'd do the reception at least on the same weekend just because it's a thank you to the guests for coming. This is also why you'd need to invite everyone to the reception that you invite to the ceremony.

I'd look into nontraditional reception venues before doing it as a whole different event.

So I could see you looking at this like a destination wedding. A friend of mine got married in the mountains and had a pretty private ceremony and weekend celebration but then they had a more normal reception back home after the honeymoon where they invited all friends.


I like the idea of cake outside the chapel. I also saw someone mention park. They would be a good option to check, but it would likely be a casual affair. I’m having my ceremony and reception at a local park operated by my county’s parks and rec. Price was really affordable. But if you want to do the later celebration go for it. I mean many are planning a later celebration right now because of COVID.